Uncategorized

Hitting the Right Snatch Position

February 22, 2013 By Keira Newton 6 Comments

This is Keira from dkb Fitness. Hitting the right snatch position is important for your RKC test. It’s common to make mistakes like jutting your head forward, or not taking your arm far enough back. This can make you fail , or set you up for a potential injury. In order to remedy those and other mistakes, watch the following video to learn my recommendations on how to hit the perfect top position for the snatch. It’s not just about strength – it’s about aligning yourself and hitting the position the correct way. Once you have the correct form, you’ll have half of this part of the test in the bag!

Watch my recommendations here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5S59eaSJjs&feature=youtu.be

—

About Keira Newton, Master RKC, Level 3 Z-Health, MCT: Keira first picked up a kettlebell in 2005 when her husband challenged her to stop laughing and start swinging. She stuck with the challenge when she realized that she could get an all-in-one workout in a fraction of the time she spent at the gym. Keira was convinced… Read more here.

Kettlebells and 007 (Part 03): Practice versus Working Out

February 20, 2013 By Mike Krivka Leave a Comment

With excerpts from Michael’s book: Code Name Indestructible

Now seems as good a time as any to discuss the difference between practicing and working out. Some people do one exclusively and some do the other – what I’d like to suggest is that you do both. You’ll hopefully agree in a minute.

Practice entails mindful, meticulous attention to detail, execution, and safety (three things that sometimes go out the window during workouts). When practicing, you are intentionally executing a technique as perfectly as possible, working on transitions, range of motion, tension, etc. There’s no time requirement during a practice session – similar to Dan John’s concepts behind “punching the clock” workouts; you show up, get the work done, and go home. In a practice session you create the foundation for the technique (and other techniques as well). You’re trying to make that foundation deep and wide. Practice is important and while it’s not especially glamorous or exciting – it’s necessary.

Working out means you have a plan and a will to attack today’s objective. Less attention (and sometimes none at all) is spent on perfect movement or technique – you just hit it as hard as you can. Doing a workout is an opportunity to test your technique while under stress – sweat, snot, blood, and pain are all considered stressors in the gym, on the field, and in a fight. You are using the broad technique and strength base that you established during practice and seeing how it holds up under fire. Sometimes you’ll do really well, while other times you’ll realize it’s time to practice more.

The RKC School of Strength, spends a lot of time progressively loading and practicing perfect technique. This is a great method for developing strength in a traditional manner and works very, very well. CrossFit, “The Sport of Fitness,” relies less on practicing and more on testing the technique under stress. This allows for tremendous adaptation as well as amazing physical transformations in a relatively short period of time.
I suggest making both the ideas of practicing and working out an active part of your workout planning. Why turn your low intensity days into practice sessions instead of workouts? Take one or two workouts a week to broaden and strengthen your technique-base, as well as your strength-base, so that when you decide to apply yourself during a tough workout you’ll have the skills to match the intensity.

Invariably, someone will ask, “Excuse me Brainiac, but can’t I practice the technique before the workout as opposed to wasting a whole workout?” My reply has been and always will be that a workout is never wasted when you practice the basics – NEVER. You’ll be a better athlete in the long run if you focus on the basic skills and basic strength techniques of your sport. This type of attention will allow you to make a difference when your moment in the spotlight comes.

Remember the old adage that “practice makes perfect”? Well it’s wrong – PERFECT practice makes PERFECT. You’ll never be able to work on perfecting a movement skill if you are doing it under stress – you’ll make bad accommodations and you’ll cheat. Practice will give you the ability to deeply ingrain good movements into your skill set with the ability to use them when necessary.

When you’re planning workouts, place a practice “workout” on your low intensity day and make sure it includes something you really need to work on. This will give you a chance to slow down, focus on technique, while still “punching the clock” and getting some work done.

—

Michael A. Krivka, Sr., RKC Team Leader is a Washington, DC native who has been involved in Kettlebell training for over a decade and is currently an RKC Team Leader and member of the RKC Board of Advisors under Dragon Door (where he has been listed as one of the top reviewed RKC’s in the world for the last five years… Read more here.

One Strength, Two Strength’s, Three Strength’s… More!

February 15, 2013 By Russell Andrews 5 Comments

I was reading Survival of the Fittest, not too long ago, and it got me thinking about the different strengths needed for different sports. For example, when I was watching the Strongman competition on TV, I noticed that the strength of those very powerful men was tremendous. Whether it was lifting the back end of a car for reps, throwing kegs, pulling the bus up the incline via a rope, or pressing the log—it is beyond question that the competition demonstrates great feats of strength.

Who is strong? What’s the gauge or the measure of strength? Is it even possible to have a universal description and fit all these strong people from across the sports world landscape into one category?

How do we compare the strength of a gymnast to the strength of a powerlifter? Those strengths won’t necessarily crossover into the other’s playground. Is it fair to compare a swimmer that obviously possesses great cardio-muscle strength and stamina to the marathon runner who just has cardio strength and endurance? Or compare one dude that can bend nails and tear books, to the dude that can’t do either one, but can hang from a pole like a flag? It’s all strength, isn’t it?

What I found from my reading of Survival of the Fittest, is that there are many different types of strengths we can possess.

Trying to figure out which strength is the ultimate strength is equivalent to trying to figure out who is the greatest athlete of all time. Who is the greatest home run hitter, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays or the Babe? Is Jordan better than Wilt or Jabbar better than Magic? What about Carl Lewis, Michael Phelps, Bruce Jenner, Tiger, Herschel, Bo Jackson, Ali, Jack LaLanne, Jesse Owens, Dan Gable, or Jim Thorpe? I could go on, but who is the best? I say that they all are.

I can tell you about one athlete that I witnessed in high school back in the 70s that I’d put up against anyone. His name is Larry Kinnebrew. He was the State Champ in heavyweight wrestling, state champ in the discus and shot, won the 100 yard dash in 9.6, ran a leg on the region champ 440 yard dash team, won the area weightlifting meet, and was All State in football as a RB/LB (actually was named both). He could even dunk a basketball, and let me mention he was 6’1″ 245 pounds. (Although that’s standard size for today’s football player, back in the 70’s high school, that was huge.) He played for the Bengals and Bills in the NFL.

He can chef up some mean BBQ too.

Note the size difference:

1. Bodyweight Strength

If it’s not the ultimate genuine physical strength, it probably should be. Watching the gymnasts hang, flip, twist, hold, etc., through all the different contorted body positions, I come away saying, “That’s Strong.” Can a Gymnast bench 500 pounds and squat 700 pounds? Does it even matter if they can’t? They can suspend themselves in midair at arms length holding onto rings in an iron cross.

The body is our “equipment” we use to play in sports. It has to be trained in its own domain without the use of any traditional equipment to be functionally strong. The body is a tool all to itself. The stronger the body becomes by using its own weight, the more prepared the athlete becomes. Let me say this about bodyweight strength-—if you are fighting for your life hanging off a ledge or a cliff, who cares how much you can squat?

2. Functional Movement Strength

I love this one, the movement athletes. It’s what most of us do, the type of athletes we train, and across the board, the strength needed for most sports we play. Most of our idols or heroes play in this arena. My favorite all time athletes are in this group; Herschel Walker, Bo Jackson, Willie Mays, Bill Walton, Edwin Moses, Jack Lambert, and Fran Tarkenton, to name a few. This is where speed, power, strength, flexibility, and pure athleticism combine to form the functional athlete. These are the athletes that push the limits in their respective sports. They break the records and raise the bar for the next generation. Everything they do bears some attribute of speed, strength, stamina, power, and endurance.

3. Cardio Strength

Cardio endurance is another strength. These long-distance travelers may not look the part, but they still possess cardio strength that the strong guys usually don’t possess. Marathon runners possess strength endurance to climb long, slow inclines and run through city streets. Back in the day, a five-minute mile was excellent. That was the time to crack—then it was four and half minutes—then four minutes. Now the world record is 3:43. That takes a combination of endurance and speed strength.

Speed is a form of strength also. Speed engages the muscular system yet taxes the cardiovascular system also. Long-distance speed is probably the rarest strength, but those that have it, must use it often to maintain it. I heard a saying once, “If you were the slowest gazelle in the pack on the plains you would probably be someone’s lunch that day. If you were the slowest lion in the pack on the plains, you might not get to eat that day. So whether you are a gazelle or a lion, it’s best to be moving fast often.”

4. Powerlifting, Isolation, Strongman Strength

I grouped all these together because they seem to have the same blood-line—brute strength. These guys are mad strong, like my friend Joe Majors who competed world-wide and squatted 903, benched 655, and pulled 760 in Germany. And that was after both triceps were surgically repaired. (Not too shabby for a guy in his 50s!)

Even taking it down to the nail benders, arm wrestlers, and brick busters, brute strength is strongman stuff. I saw a guy curl a hundred pound dumb bell once. Back in the 80s at a charity function, he curled half his body weight of 65 pounds 1,088 times in six hours!

The rule was you could pause for three seconds between reps. What was funny about it was the camera crew filmed only a small portion at first. They left for lunch, came back and he was still going. The crowd really got into it with him around rep 600 to shoot for 1000 reps. He was crying, hands were shredded, but he made it. Was that strength or endurance? Or just crazy?

Strength is wrapped in different packages. All of us possess one or more of these strengths. It really isn’t a cancellation of strength if a gymnast can’t bench 500 pounds or if a powerlifter can’t do pull ups. Both are very strong at their craft.

But there is one strength that is the truth serum. The one strength that defines the elite, the best. The one strength that drives the person to finish, to conquer, and to reach the level of accomplishment. And that is…

5. Mental Strength

I once asked a group of high school athletes what they thought the strongest part of the body was. The answers were typically the back muscles or quads. However, it’s the mind that is the strongest part of the body. Everything begins in the mind.

If it isn’t resting in the five inches between the ears, then more than likely it isn’t going to happen. Mental drive and self-belief is the ultimate strength that is the universal description that we can attach to all these strong people. And it applies, not just to the athlete, it also applies to any and all that use their mental capacity to accomplish their dreams, goals, or ideas.

The refusal to lose is powerful, more powerful than the biceps or pecs. More powerful than the iron cross or picking up the stones and placing them on the top shelf. Without belief and the self-drive, we don’t hear Ali yell, “I’m the Greatest”. We don’t see Bobby Thompson and the “Shot heard around the World”. We don’t know about Wilt’s 100 points, Michael Phelps eight gold medals, The Williams Sisters’ ten Wimbledon Championships between them, or Jack LaLanne pulling a row of boats swimming in handcuffs.

The mind is the ultimate strength. Mental strength is the only comparison between the strongest participants in the different sports categories. And it’s an equal comparison. They are all equally strong, for without their mental strength, there would be no strength at all.

Who is the strongest? The one who thinks he is.

—

About Russell Andrews, BS, DC, HKC, FMS, SSC: Russell Andrews is a Chiropractor, and is certified in kettlebells, certified in functional movement, certified in strength and conditioning. Russell’s focus is training young Athlete’s in functional movement. He maintains Thunder and Lightning Performance Training in Cartersville Georgia. He is a speaker for the Glazier Clinic speaking on Building the Functional Athlete to Improve Performance, and Functional Training for the High School Athlete. He has over 35 years experience as a lifter and over 25 years as a trainer. He also maintains a private Chiropractic service in Cartersville.

You can find him at: Thunder and Lightning Performance Training
www.drruss21.com

The Dirty Dozen: Move #1 – The Kettlebell Swing

February 13, 2013 By Phil Ross 18 Comments

The Kettlebell Swing: Often to referred to as the “Mother of All Kettlebell Exercises” and is the root of all Kettlebell Training.

The Kettlebell Swing is not only the basis but one of the biggest differentiators between Kettlebell Training and other strength and conditioning systems. The Kettlebell Swing “reverse engineers” the practitioner’s hips by the development of the hip hinge, hamstring and glute recruitment through the pop and lock required to execute the movement properly. In addition, the incredible rooting effect for power transference through the body is applicable to improved performance in virtually all sports and strength performance.

The Kettlebell Swing has so many benefits, yet many go untapped through poor execution. I’ve had people walk into my studio claiming “I love to swing, I do tons of them all of the time.” Then I watch them swing – Ooof! I don’t know where the heck they learned to “swing”, but now I know why they thought that swings were easy! No eccentric/concentric motion, shoulder’s not packed, no rooting, legs bent at the top and to much at the bottom, chicken necking so much that I thought was I hanging with Frank Perdue, lats not engaged, power leaks all over!

Now that we’ve looked at the poor examples, how do we execute the swing? Step one, find a quality instructor or at least purchase some DVDs or get your hands on a video program from one of the top flight RKC Instructors. I will mention, no matter how good a video is, nothing replaces working under the scrutiny of a qualified Kettlebell Instructor.

Starting from the ground up, let’s consider our feet. First make certain that your feet are the correct width apart. If they are too close, you’ll never be able to swing the bell between your legs. If they are too far apart, you won’t be able to completely fire your gluteus, thus leaking power. Additionally, you will tax your hip flexors more which could result in injury. Rooting with the floor is key. Take advantage of the feedback from your feet with the floor. Establishing that that intimate contact with the floor creates a map of you body’s nervous system and helps facilitate feedback and feedforward of movement.

Draw your kneecaps up into your quadriceps as you lock out your knees. This should happen simultaneously to the driving of your coccyx to your naval and the contraction of your gluteus.

While all of this in occurring, you need to shorten your abdominals by “zipping up” and exhaling a short, hard purposeful breath.

Pack your shoulders and engage the lats as the power of the swing travels from the ground, through your feet, into your legs and through you hips and gluteus, up into your lats, passing through your arms and shoots out of the bottom of the Kettlebell.

When you are swinging, think of “hips and grips”. It’s also very important that you go between full relaxation and full tension. This is how to develop incredibly useful strength!

There are quite a few swing variations. There are the two hand swings, the one hand swing, hopping lateral swing, hand to hand swing, dual bell swing, dead start swing, walking swings and the much maligned bottoms up swing, to name a few. All of the same principles apply to all of the swing variations, however there are certain unique benefits to each variation. Check out the accompanying video demonstrating some of the variations of the swing.

Now its time to get off of the computer and start swinging!

—

Master RKC, 8^th Degree Black Belt, Specialist in Bodyweight Strength and CK-FMS Certified. Phil Ross’ name is synonymous with Martial Arts and Fitness. He is known as the area’s Kettlebell King and has successfully competed on the National Level in… Read more here.

How to REALLY Do a Perfect Plank

February 8, 2013 By Todd Cambio 6 Comments

When I first started learning kettlebells, there was a common cue I heard from all of them. It was “Squeeze your glutes like you have a quarter between them.” This cue came along with “flex your quads and brace your core.” When I hosted an HKC course at my facility, I heard this phrase all day long! However, the “Squeeze your glutes” cue really stuck with me.

I can even tell you why this cue stuck in my head more than any other. It was when we were all planking and practicing these cues when someone who was struggling to keep his form started chanting (rather loudly) “don’t drop the change, don’t drop the change, don’t drop the change” and then crumpled to the ground in exhaustion. It was funny, but it hit home with me the need to coach these cues to get people to engage their glutes to help them get their abs to fire. It also prompted me to work on improving my coaching techniques and apply them to other movements.

Well, what I came up with is, how a plank should really be done. How a plank is actually the key to getting your abs to fire. How a plank is biomechanically necessary to master many bodyweight movements. How a plank can prep the body to do many of the exercises in Convict Conditioning. I will also relate how a plank is extremely functional, or transferable as I say, to a large number of exercises, especially push ups, dead lifts and KB swings.

I know everybody is probably doing planks. Unfortunately, most people know how a plank should “look” they just don’t execute it perfectly. Many people, trainers included, are not quite sure what muscles should be firing or how to cue clients to align their spine to get the correct muscles firing. So I will offer some strategies to help you find that “Perfect Plank.”

Perfect Plank

A proper plank includes more than just cueing to squeeze the glutes, flex the quads and brace the core. It also requires you to fully align the spine in a neutral position. By aligning the spine along with squeezing your glutes, flexing your quads and bracing your core, you will keep your abs firing at all times. You definitely want your abs firing instead of finding ways to compensate. Many times the back, especially the lower lumbar, gets overworked. Quite simply, if you feel your back, you are out of position and something in your kinetic chain is off.

By planking correctly, you can transfer this neural recruitment pattern to most other movements and exercises. For example, all a basic push up is, no matter what step or progression you are on, is a moving plank. The push up just recruits a few more major muscle groups like the pecs (major and minor) the anterior deltoids and the triceps.

Here are a few common form issues that you can visibly correct:

Low Back Arch:

This arching will compress the lower vertebrae and many times will cause a sore lower back. By continuously doing movements like this with poor form, you will create poor neural recruitment patterns. Meaning, your body will automatically fire the wrong muscles at the wrong times leading to more and more aches and pains over time, possibly some chronic pain and even injury!

Mid Back Arch or “Turtle Back”:

This type of arching is actually a false neural recruitment pattern. By doing planks like this, you are firing your back muscles instead of the proper core and ab muscles. In my opinion, this is actually a form of overuse or even over training in some people. By having a majority of your movements go through your back, you are destined for back problems because his pattern will transfer to everything you do in life.

Neck Reach or “Bobbing For Apples”:

This is usually the first visible sign someone is struggling with a plank and push up. By doing this poor movement pattern you are making the upper traps and neck muscles strain. This generally leads to upper back pain, neck pain and even constant headaches. (Guy in the Middle)

Butt in the air:

Not the worse of the bunch mentioned above but it can put excess stress on shoulders and kink up your traps and neck. (Guy in the bottom of the picture directly above) Basically you are not engaging your hips and glutes so you are actually not firing your abs very much if at all. So, why do something that doesn’t give you much of a benefit. Simply do a proper plank for a few seconds, put your knees down when form begins to fade, and then pop back up when ready.

Side note: I do not advocate laying flat on ground between sets of planks or push ups because many people will subconsciously arch their lower back while resting which could start their lower back muscles firing over the abs.

Other scenarios to watch for: Planking like an upward dog or cobra position in yoga, tilting your hips to one side or not packing the shoulders

Solution: So, by squeezing your glutes like there is a “quarter between your cheeks” you will get the hips in proper position to allow the abs to fire. By firing the quads along with your glutes, you are helping your glutes line up your hips so that your spine is in a neutral position. By doing this, your abs should turn on through out the movement you are doing.

Start by doing a high plank or push up position until you have improved your core/ab strength enough to do them on your elbows. Holding for one minute is a solid time frame to hold a true plank.

Advanced Solution: You can also go a step further and use a stick and make sure your spine is straight and that the stick makes contact with the back of your head, your upper back and your tailbone. We have also applied this solution to doing body rows, dead lifts, KB swings, RDL’s, bird dogs and more. If you analyze each of these before mentioned exercises, they all require a neutral spine. By holding a stick along your client’s back on the three contact points, they will truly fire their abs and engage their glutes. This method works great for teaching the hip hinge as well.

I like to think of neural pathways as turning on light switches. If your abs are not firing during an exercise, I think how can I “switch that light on” to get them to fire.

In Convict Conditioning I and II, Paul Wade says “Lights Out” when you are alone in your cell. Well, I say “Lights On!” for proper planking!

—

Todd M. Cambio, CSCS, HKC: Todd is the owner of Precision Fitness in Pawcatuck, CT. He is a strength and conditioning coach that specializes in spots performance and obstacle course race training. Todd is also a published author and Master Body Weight Trainer for Lebert Fitness. See what Todd is up to by visiting www.ToddCambio.com or www.GoPrecisionFitness.com

Single Leg Deadlifts: Do Them or Else

February 6, 2013 By Max Shank 10 Comments

Though initially I thought it was unnecessary to explain the ridiculous benefits of single leg deadlifting, I am finding that many people are still not convinced of its amazing power. There seems to be many people who dismiss it as being too light or for ladies only.

This should dispel that lack of understanding:

When done properly, the single leg deadlift can be loaded up to truly impressive amount of weight, that which lifting will require an impressive blend of strength, balance, and athleticism.

Athleticism? Yes athleticism. Think about what stance most sports assume; either single leg or split stance—that is, one hip in flexion and one in extension. Own this position under load and you will become instantly more athletic. Run faster, jump higher, hit harder.

When it comes to kettlebell training the posterior chain has one obvious ballistic movement: The Swing. I don’t need to convince you all of the benefits of the swing, but we should recognize that is has its limitations in posterior chain strength. The load is simply not heavy enough, even with a pair of beasts at 212 lbs. That’s a measly 106 per leg. Grab the same pair of bells for some single leg deadlifts and we are now approaching some serious posterior chain strength.

If swings are power work for the posterior chain, then single leg deadlifts are the strength work. These two moves, used concurrently, will yield massive strength, athleticism, and improve your overall movement quality.

Quick tips on how to perform the exercise:

Set up with the weight as close to your midfoot as possible.
Reach the free leg up and back and make your spine long
Maintain a straight line from your crown to your free foot throughout the exercise
The standing leg should bend at the bottom, straighten at the top (just like a swing)
Go Heavy!

Better every day,

-Max

Max Shank, Master RKC: Max Shank is not only an extremely gifted teacher, but one of the most well-rounded and capable athletes in the world. From excelling in Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu to performing impressive feats of strength in weightlifting and gymnastics, Max has the ability to do it all–and do it well. Choosing to lead from the front by his own example, he has dedicated his life to Strength and Health. http://ambitionathletics.com

Kettlebells and 007 (Part 2) Intensity? Or Insanity?

February 1, 2013 By Mike Krivka 4 Comments

Overview

The intensity of your workouts can do everything from defining your goals to defining your personality. Some workouts will be low intensity; kind of like a lazy afternoon on a river interspersed with shooting some class III rapids every once in a while. Other workouts are like a firefight; short, intense, gut-wrenching and leave you in a puddle of sweat (and other bodily fluids if you’re not careful). Low intensity workouts are usually associated with building absolute strength; think Dan John and Pavel’s Easy Strength protocols. High intensity workouts are currently associated with building cross-modality strength and endurance; think CrossFit. Does intensity correlate to certain personalities? Could be! Think of the strong, silent-type of strength athletes – definitely low intensity. How about the wild, spontaneous, Type-A athletes – definitely high intensity. I know these are both generalizations – but you get the idea!

Defining Intensity

When you discuss workout intensity you need to look at load and duration as well – because they are interrelated. Intensity can be looked at as how explosive a muscular contraction will be needed for a safe, efficient, and effective execution of a given technique. In other words, a kettlebell snatch is a lot more intense than a biceps curl. Intensity can also be perceived as dependent on the overall physical condition of an athlete. Doing a series of fifty yard sprints would be intense for a powerlifter but not so bad for a soccer player – and it could outright kill a sedentary IT tech! Think about this: as intensity increases so does the anaerobic capacity requirement. If you think running sprints and running a 10k are the same because they are both running, then think again. The anaerobic requirements of a sprinter and a long distance runner are completely different; but the sprinter will fare much better than the long distance runner when it comes down to survival-based anaerobic functions. Also, don’t forget that intensity needs to be determined by the individual and is highly variable depending upon age, weight, diet, recovery, experience, and the presence of illness or injury, etc.

mkrivka_blog2 — An example of a low-intensity workout

Load refers to how heavy the object is that you are moving. Once again, heavy is a relative concept. If you are swinging a 53 lb kettlebell and switch to a 110 lb kettlebell, you will immediately get a sense for what load does to intensity. A light load will allow you to move faster for longer, while a heavy load will only allow you to move “fast” for only a short period of time. Did you notice how I snuck the relationship between duration in? Yeah, they are mutually exclusive in that one is going to adversely affect the other. If you don’t have first-hand experience with this phenomenon trust me, you will very soon! All it will take is doing your snatch test with a heavier or lighter kettlebell than you are used to and you will have a graphic example of the effect of load on intensity.

Absolute vs. Strength Endurance

Which one are you? Are you focusing on your absolute strength or are you working on stretching your strength and endurance to new heights? Well, as athletes (and if you are using kettlebells you are most definitely an athlete) then you have to be able to work towards fulfilling both of these area of your training. The accumulation of absolute strength will give you the ability to do more work and make physical tasks easier to accomplish. Plumbing the depths of strength and endurance will temper your spirit and give you the tenacity to keep going when the going gets tough.

So, can you accomplish both? Yeah – by learning how to moderate or wave the intensity of your workouts. When working on absolute strength, think double body weight dead lift, you need to stay fresh and strong in between each set. That means low reps, heavy loads and lots of rest between sets. The intensity will be high because of the heavy loads but the duration will be short. You won’t exhaust yourself quickly and you’ll be able to make steady gains. When working on strength endurance, think RKC or USSS Snatch Test, you need to work as hard and as fast as you can to meet the time requirement for each test. The intensity will be high because of the time constraints but the load will be low in order to let you move fast and stay fast. This is when you are pushing the limits of your strength, physical and mental strength, by going fast (while maintaining technique and safety) but you’re done quickly – really done!

Programming Intensity

So can you make steady progress to meet your absolute strength goals and your strength endurance goals? Absolutely! With a little planning and a lot discipline you can make this work. It’s not “snake oil”- it’s all about planning your workouts and leaving the gym behind while you still have some reps left “in the bank”. Planning the workouts to alternate low intensity workouts and high intensity workouts might look something like this over the course of ten workouts:

The above training outline isn’t going to work for everyone. It’s really going to depend on your existing strength base and your ability to recover in between workouts. What it does show is that with a little planning and a basic understanding of how to manipulate intensity you can progressively move forward and gain strength and endurance without excluding one or the other from your training.

The long and short of it is you’re going to need to gauge the intensity of the workouts based on your own experience and the advice of your RKC or coach. Going too fast with a heavy load will “blue flame” you and going too slow with a light load will get you nowhere fast. You’ve got to find just the right mix of load, speed and intensity – and that balance has to include attention to form, execution and safety.

High intensity Video:

About Mike: Michael A. Krivka, Sr. is a Washington, DC native who has been involved in Kettlebell training for over a decade and is currently an RKC Team Leader and member of the RKC Board of Advisors under Dragon Door (where he has been listed as one of the top reviewed RKC’s in the world for the last five years). Mike has traveled extensively throughout the United States teaching Russian Kettlebells to military (USMC, USN, USA and USAF) and law enforcement personnel (FBI, DEA, USSS and CIA) as well hard-living civilians from Soccer Moms to CEOs. In addition to teaching workshops and clinics he logs several hundred hours a year teaching and training with Russian Kettlebells at his own gym and martial arts studio. He is also a Level I CrossFit Trainer, and Olympic Lifting Coach.

When he is not tossing Kettlebells around he is teaching and training in the martial arts, something he has done since he was thirteen years old. His martial arts training, sparked by a childhood fascination with Bruce Lee, spans early training in Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Wrestling, Western Fencing, Sambo, Ninjutsu, Muay Thai and Gung Fu and has culminated in being awarded a Full Instructor JKD Concepts (Jeet Kune Do – Bruce Lee’s base art) and the Filipino Martial Arts (Kali, Escrima, Arnis and Maphilindo Silat) under Guro Dan Inosanto. He continues to train in and explore other martial arts to continue to hone his technical and teaching skills.

Snatch Up These Tips!

January 30, 2013 By Keira Newton 14 Comments

I created this video to prepare my students for their RKC snatch test.

The techniques I’m going to show you in this video are important because most people do not have the hip/shoulder flexibility and or mobility to do the amount of snatches required for RKC. It’s my opinion that the techniques in this video will help you to prepare yourself well for the RKC snatch test.

I will be putting together more videos to help you with RKC snatch test AND the RKC weekend, so keep watching! — Keira

——

About Keira Newton, Master RKC, Level 3 Z-Health, MCT:

Keira first picked up a kettlebell in 2005 when her husband challenged her to stop laughing and start swinging. She stuck with the challenge when she realized that she could get an all-in-one workout in a fraction of the time she spent at the gym. Keira was convinced she found her ideal fitness solution when she lost the 44 pounds she had gained during her second pregnancy in just four months after her daughter was born. She continued to reshape her body in the years that followed, slimming her hips, dropping three more waist sizes, and building lean muscle.

Keira’s personal transformation inspired her to spread the word about the benefits of kettlebells. Read more at her website: www.dkbfitness.com/

How Do You Arrive at Your Ideal Bodyweight? Here’s an Important First Step.

January 25, 2013 By Thomas Phillips 12 Comments

“This article explores ideal body-weight for adult men and women of all “body-types” beyond the misleading scope of the BMI. It is the culmination of over 4 years of work dealing with nearly 1000 clients helping them reach unimaginable physique transformations. Based on their feedback (as far as how they look, feel and blood work analysis) this system has proven to be accurate time and time again. In the near future, I hope to share the UTC with many of YOU! Enjoy!” – Thomas

The UTC (Ultimate Transformation Challenge) Body Color System Rationale

The UTC body color system is not an arbitrary system. I have based my evaluation on several hundred men and women of all shapes and sizes who have successfully gone through this program over the past 4 years. Included in this evaluation are colleagues I’ve interviewed within the various sports I participate. I pay attention to those individuals who have had the most success based on how they look, feel and perform at their perceived ideal bodyweight.

Americans are most familiar with the BMI system that contests both men and women should meet the same height and weight standard.

See below:

Most men find the BMI standard too strict and will find excuses such as “The BMI doesn’t account for my muscle mass.” Although there is truth to this statement, in my experience, this conclusion is irrelevant and more will be said on this topic below. On the other hand, most women easily fall within the standards of the BMI but are totally dissatisfied with their physiques. Therefore, I set out to create a realistic optimal weight standard for men as well as a separate one for women.

At first glance, men will complain that the “green body” in the UTC body color system is too strict; however, there was a time when “normal weight” in America was far lower than either the BMI or the “green body” standard in the UTC body color system. Take a look at this scale from the 1950’s in a local diner near my home:

At one point, this scale from the 1950’s represented predictable height and weight for American men and women. Notice, there is a chart for men and a separate one for women. Compare these numbers to the high side of “normal” within the BMI chart. Clearly, particular things have occurred in our society that has pushed the standard of a “normal weight” to a ridiculous standard of “normalcy” that is no longer acceptable. Today the average 5’ 10” man walks around at over 190 pounds in America. Therefore, we must ask the question, “What has happened?”

The UTC explores the answers to this and many other questions in depth.
Most men want that “six pack” look. Take a look at the before and after height/weight of these UTC participants and the weight loss necessary in order to make their abs “pop.” In my experience, many men will tell me they need to lose “about 10 pounds” to have abs. The truth; however, is often closer to 30 pounds of weight loss for their abs to look like the individuals below.

—

About Thomas Phillips:

Being a good student, teacher and athlete has always been a priority. This is why I choose to remain the student and the teacher in all aspects of life. Other than being a teacher of math and philosophy for the past 13 years, I am also a writer, gym owner, as well as a proud father and husband. I continue to challenge myself physically by competing in various sports and strength events including The Tactical Strength Challenge, Powerlifting, Bodybuilding and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. From a young age I have taken a keen interest in health, fitness and personal growth. The goal was, and continues to be, mind/body performance optimization.

It has taken years of small successes and big mistakes to get where I am today and I’m certainly not done learning. As owner of Fit for Life PT, in Marlboro NJ, I’ve had the privilege of working with some of the best strength and conditioning coaches in the world.

Over time, I’ve earned their respect and admiration by not only talking the talk, but by walking the walk. “UTC” is the culmination of what I have learned in health, strength, behavior and philosophy.

Visit www.theultimatetransformationchallenge.com for more info.

How to be Zombie Fit—Not Zombie Fodder

January 23, 2013 By Andrew Read 5 Comments

Rule # 1 Cardio - Zombieland

The world isn’t black and white. It’s shades of grey. As kids we all see things very black and white – good and bad, yes or no, like or dislike. But as we age and gain some perspective we start to see things from multiple viewpoints and this empathy allows us to deal with the many compromises that are needed to successfully navigate all the various relationships we have from family to work.

But shades of grey don’t stick in your head like black and white messages do.

Squatting hurts your knees is a great example of a very black and white saying that has sadly stuck around for years beyond what should have been its use by date.

The one that ticks me off the most though is that cardio makes you weak. It’s funny; because when I was in the military we believed that cardio made you a more effective soldier. When I competed in martial arts tournaments almost qualifying for the Olympics we believed that cardio made you a better fighter too. But somehow people who stand still and only lift weights tried to get it in our heads that cardio is bad for you.

Recently I have been on a yearlong experiment to blend strength training with cardiovascular work. Initially this was a bit of a joke. You know, “the first rule of Zombieland is cardio” and all that. But as I started travelling down that path more and more I became more and more determined to prove the detractors wrong. Fitness, actual move-your-body-all-day long-fitness has been prized by warriors since time began. And that people were now saying it was unnecessary grated heavily against me.

In the RKC we have the expression “to press a lot you must press a lot”. It’s pretty self-explanatory and says succinctly that if you want to press heavy then you need to press with both volume and load to be successful. But somehow when we wanted to reverse engineer something like running fitness instead of being told “to run a lot you must run a lot” we got this confused message that implied deadlifting more would make you run better. I’m not sure if anyone else watches marathons but the Kenyans who win don’t look to me like they have big deadlifts!

So to see if you could get that kind of fitness I created a plan that would force me to see if I could have both strength and cardio. I spoke with my editor at Breaking Muscle about an ambitious plan to go from standing still lifting weights to completing an Ironman triathlon (3.8km swim, 180km ride, 42.2km run) in twelve months. Unfortunately for me she loved the idea, which meant I had to figure out how to get in the kind of shape that would allow me to complete one.

And so I began.

I ran a bit, I swam a bit and I rode a bit. Gradually those distances started to increase, as did the number of times per week I could sustain that kind of training. I’ve had all sorts of problems during training from numerous muscle tears to being hit by cars but I’m now at the point where I am coping with about twenty hours of endurance training per week. While my lifts in the gym suffered greatly to begin with, and still do a little due to the always present fatigue in my legs, they’re back close to what I was lifting before starting all this. My pull up and push up numbers are good (dropping some weight helps with those tremendously). And most importantly distance of any kind no longer scares me. My regular Saturday morning run is longer than a half marathon – I’ve got enough gas in the tank to out run any horde of zombies now.

The first lesson I learned also was one of those often laughed at RKC jokes – “to have strength endurance, first you must have strength”. Well, if you replace strength with the word speed you end up with the same thing. To go long quickly you need speed endurance. The way to gain speed endurance is to run both far and fast, just like in our pressing analogy, except this time we’re replacing the load you lift with how fast you run.

My weekly running consists of:

Two easy moderate length runs of up to forty-five minutes (think of these as the “light” days in Rites of Passage – a way to build volume without breaking your body down at all).
One hard day of speed work (I need to emphasise not sprints, but faster than race pace work. This is like a heavy day and has a big recovery cost on the body and should always be followed by an easy session such as one of the moderate forty-five minute runs).
A long run of up to three hours. (Again, treat this like a heavy day and make sure that the next run is short and easy).

My strength plan is KISS perfection:

Day 1

Squat 3 x 5
Handstand push ups + pull ups 3 sets of AMRAP
Extended push ups + extended pull ups 3 sets

Day 2

Deadlift 3 x 5
Handstand push ups + pull ups 3 sets of AMRAP
Extended push ups + extended pull ups 3 sets

The extended sets are done following a concept I first got from Jerry Telle where you start with the worst leverage and then gradually progress to the strongest. So start with close grip push ups for max reps, then rest about ten seconds and go to shoulder width push ups for max reps, then to wide push ups for max. For pull ups start with wide grip pull ups for max reps, then shoulder width for max reps, then shoulder width chins, then finally close grip chins. These are a great way to build some muscular endurance without adding much size – vital to keep weight down if your goal is to travel fast.

(I also need to add that normally I would perform some abdominal/ core work but I have a strained hip flexor right now and I’m avoiding stressing it as much as possible. I would follow the same sort of format though in going from a harder version of an exercise to an easier one such as hanging leg raises to lying leg raises).

I would add that if I were training just for an event like a Tough Mudder I could easily add in one or two more weights sessions. However on top of my running I also ride and swim and two is the number I can still fit in without seeing performance drop off.

Because I’m doing so much fitness work I don’t need swings or snatches. I hate to break it to you all, but unless you’re a novice runner or completely inexperienced with weights (like many endurance athletes) neither of those will make you a better runner on their own. You need to combine strength training with running and run both far and fast.

And when the zombies do come….

I’ll see you next to me while we laugh at all the cardio haters who didn’t make it.

—

Andrew Read

Andrew Read, Senior RKC, is head of Dragon Door Australia and Read Performance Training. Recognised as Australia’s leading functional strength trainer he is a regular contributor to Blitz, Inside MMA, International Kickboxer, Oxygen, Ultrafit and Breaking Muscle. His coaching background spans nearly twenty years having worked with many Olympic and world championship level athletes.